My little helpers were nice enough to hold it up for a picture - I just love those red rain boots sticking out :)
That great, crinkly texture is one of my favorite things about this quilt; the whole thing is just so soft and drapes nicely, as if it has already been lovingly broken in.
My original plan was to bind with a navy blue fabric with pink flowers that has been in my stash for a long time. Unfortunately, it didn't age well. When I opened it up to iron & cut, it was faded along the fold lines :(
I'm running out of larger pieces in my stash, so Plan B was to cut a strip from each of several darker purples. I'm pleased to have found another option that {in my opinion} looks so lovely, and didn't involve a shopping binge :)
I really am trying to cut down the size of my stash, because I don't have much storage space in my house & because I don't want my pretty fabric to sit in the closet until it fades or yellows. It really is sad to pull out a fabric you have been hoarding, waiting for a special use, only to find it in that condition. (I have fabrics with a 2000 copyright on the selvedge, and some probably older than that, if you are wondering)
I used a pastel varigated thread for quilting. Varigated threads are great for people like me who have a hard time settling on just one color :)
I pre-washed most of these fabrics at my Grandmother's house before she passed away, so the whole quilt smelled like her house, {until I washed it at mine} making it all the more pleasent to hand stitch the binding down :)
At different stages, I've loved & hated this quilt. As I was joining the blocks together, I really thought it was going to be awful. I'm glad I didn't banish it to the stack of UFO's, because now I've completely changed my mind about this quilt. Funny how the right boarder & binding can do that for you. And how Plan B can turn out better than your first choice.
Tomorrow is Friday, and we all know how blogland loves to party on Friday, so I'll be bringing my quilt around and linking up :) {I'll update this post to say where when I do}
TGIFF @ Quilt Matters
AmyLouWho Sew & Tell
Confessions of a Fabric Addict Whoop Whoop Friday
Richard & Tanya Quilts
14 comments:
Allison, I love your quilt. :) Even more, I love hearing (um, no reading) about the stages you and the quilt went through. For me, that's what makes quilts so special, hearing their story. Thanks for sharing. April @ Little Mama Hen
It's lovely : ) The red boots are cute too
That looks great! Love the subtle colours and the binding is a nice finish to it =D
I'm having a giveaway on my blog. Feel free to stop by and enter (if you haven't already) =D
http://ibescheraldine.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/official-150th-post-giveaway.html
It looks great, Allison. I know just what you mean about the fading along the fold lines. I had one like that the other day too -- so annoying and sad when it's a fabric you love. Your plan B though was inspired. Great job! Thanks for linking up to TGIFF!
It's all about the cozy crinkles! Nice job!
This is lovely and I think that's a great choice for binding:)
What a beautiful quilt and the memories of your grandmother will always be there.
Look at all of the quilting on it!
It's very pretty.
I can sure appreciate a love/hate relationship while working on quilts.
I have one I expected to have completed back in February--I still have quite a ways to go to finish it. A lot of that is just not taking the time to work on it.
I always have way too many projects going at one time.
Your quilt looks so cozy and lovely. I love your rationalizational (new word) thoughts about using your stash. I am going to try to remember them when near a quilt shop. Thanks.
No matter what a quilt looks like at the beginning, it is 99.9% better at the end...and even the .1% looks good....
Very nice!
It's such a pretty quilt, Allison! Congratulations on a wonderful finish! Whoop whoop!!
That turned out really nice and I love the purple binding!
Thank you for linking up to my LAFF I am sorry I am so late in responding to your link. The quilt is fantastic. I just love that one block that has the bow ties going in a circle.
http://richardquilts.blogspot.com
That is a pretty quilt - love how snuggly it looks too!
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